Sheep exporter could face court injunction

Animal welfare activists have clashed with angry farmers outside the Perth office of the live export company behind the disastrous Awassi Express voyage in which thousands of sheep died.

The company is seeking to ship more sheep through a subsidiary but may be slapped with an injunction.

The Department of Agriculture suspended Emanuel's export licence last month but its "sister" entity EMS Rural Exports has applied for a permit to ship sheep left stranded by the halt in trade.

Voyage preparations are underway on the Al Shuwaikh at Fremantle Port, which suggests EMS expects it will be successful, Stop Live Exports campaign manager Katrina Love told AAP.

Ms Love convened a rally outside Emanuel's office on Wednesday after Animals Australia said it would seek a Federal Court injunction if EMS got a licence so it could prevent sheep being sent into the sweltering Middle East summer.

"Seeking an injunction is a huge step for Animals Australia, but we simply cannot stand by when laws that should prevent these animals from being placed at such dire risk are not being upheld," director Lyn White said.

Ms Love told protesters she'd expected Emanuel's suspension would have also applied to its subsidiaries.

"We don't believe that this is initially the government's fault - we do believe Emanuel Exports found a loophole in the law," she said.

She let Pastoralists and Graziers Association president Tony Seabrook speak to the crowd for a few minutes but he was largely shouted down.

"What I see here is a group of people that have been brainwashed," Mr Seabrook said, drawing jeers.

He told reporters he believed the injunction threat was just mischief-making and 66,000 sheep stranded in a feedlot had to go somewhere.

"Ideally we'd get them on a boat with all the care in the world possible," he said.

"But they can't stay here and they can't get back on the farm because of quarantine."

The WA government has repeatedly called on Emanuel to slaughter the sheep locally and export them as chilled, packaged meat.

A farmer, who didn't want to be named, said about 40,000 sheep could be shipped on the Al Shuwaikh due to stocking density reductions, which were introduced in response to the Awassi Express scandal.

"All those Arabs over there will end up telling us to go to buggery," he told AAP.

Another farmer became embroiled in a heated debate with protesters who told him to stop farming sheep and instead grow soy.

"That parcel of land has bills to pay ... so for us it would be genetically modified canola," he replied.